Body of 4ft ‘black panther’ found on A1 in Harworth

The dead body of a 4ft black panther has been removed from the A1 at Harworth, according to a lorry driver who saw three workers hauling the big cat from the carriageway this morning.

Trucker Graham Byram says he witnessed a trio of highway maintenance workers struggling to remove the body of the animal, which was found on the northbound carriageway in the Harworth area earlier today.

There are fears the animal could be a big cat that was spotted in the Doncaster area earlier this year.

Mr Byram said: “I’m not one for being dramatic, but what those workers were removing was definitely something more than a domestic cat.

“One guy was moving it and one end was up above his waist and the other end was right down by the floor. It was definitely cat like - I have my own domestic cats so could tell instantly.

“It looked like a big cat of some kind to me, a bit like a black panther.”

Mr Byram, a self-employed lorry driver, was travelling from Cambridgeshire to Hull when he spotted the incident unfolding on the A1 northbound about ten miles south of the junction with the M18 at around 11.15am.

He said: “These guys were in the southbound carriageway. I could see they were removing something that was in the central reservation.

“As I got closer, I could see it was a dead animal and then I realised it was a cat of some kind. It was far bigger than any cat I have ever seen.

“It was huge. All I can assume that it was hunting for animals in the dead of night and ended up being hit by a truck or something.”

Mr Byram, who comes from Peterborough, says he was travelling at about 35mph to 40mph when he saw the incident and estimates that he watched the workers for about 30-40 seconds.

“I had to do a bit of a double take when I saw what they were moving,” added Mr Byram, 57.

“I’d say it was about ten times the size of a domestic cat. I’d love to know if anyone else saw it and would love to know the story around what they found.”